Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 360,758 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,917 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.12% of Campbell Soup worth $15,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,623,000 after buying an additional 1,792,005 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,312,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $989,440,000 after purchasing an additional 447,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,958,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,823,000 after purchasing an additional 377,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CPB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Campbell Soup from $46.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Consumer Edge reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Campbell Soup

In other news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Campbell Soup Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPB opened at $39.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15. The Campbell Soup Company has a twelve month low of $36.92 and a twelve month high of $52.81.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is 90.17%.

About Campbell Soup

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.